For many, the idea of a cross continent road trip makes us cringe, but that’s not the case for Joseph Ranseth, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and social media 'evangelist'. He’s out to disprove the notion that technology distances us as a culture, and he’s traveling the distance to prove it.
In April 2009, Joseph set out on a road trip from Phoenix to Toronto. Using his cell phone to connect with his more than 2,000 Facebook friends and 1,500 Twitter followers, Joseph encouraged his “friends” to connect with him along the way. He even went so far as to post his cell phone number to the two social media sites.
Before long he was receiving phone calls and text messages from across the world, from people sharing directions when he was lost, to those texting jokes to keep him awake on his long journey, to those sending words of encouragement. A handful of “friends” even dropped in on him when he stopped to ...